Preparing for Elk Hunting - Outdoors - Hunting

Elk hunting is more than just a fun excuse to use your skills with guns and knives or spend time with family. While some do enjoy the thrill of the hunt, others focus on the satisfaction of providing enough meat to last their families for months (with the proper usage of a hunting knife and a deep freezer). Yet elk hunting is also used to balance ecological and societal needs.

As part of their winter survival preparation, elk forage crops to bulk themselves up during the autumn. They travel in large herds, seeking out rich pastures where they can feed and keep an eye out for predators. Therefore, another reason for hunting elk is to protect farmers from the property damage caused by elk.

Are you curious about taking up elk hunting? Be aware of the state regulations, gear requirements and overall etiquette that is associated with this activity.

Basic Elk Hunting Rules

Elk hunting season takes place in the fall in most states and is governed by a particular set of rules. Here are some important elk hunting state regulations:

Kill only antlerless elk. During the fall season, only antlerless (female) elk are considered legal game. It's important to educate yourself on the differences between male and female elk before hunting.

Spike-only seasons. There are some areas that will allow you to hunt male elk as long as their antlers are "spike" shaped (meaning they are not well-developed). Again, it's important to study legal and illegal antler shapes.

Tag applications. For the purposes of distributing elk hunting across the region, there are a certain range of dates for areas where elk may be shot. These elk-hunting zones sell a limited number of hunting tags to help regulate how many elk can be shot in each zone. Before you can go hunting, make sure you have that state-approved tag.

Elk Hunting Gear

Here is a list of some of the specific equipment you should bring for your elk hunting expedition:A hunter orange ensemble. When you're outfitted in hunter orange, you are more visible to other hunters and they will less likely mistake you for an elk.

An LED headlamp. When you are dressing and preparing your recently killed game for transport to your vehicle, you need the use of your hands. Having an LED headlamp is extremely helpful as it provides you with light you need to make precise cuts with hunting knife, while keeping your hands free to do the work. An LED headlamp is a great basic survival tool you should always have on you when in the wilderness.

vHunting knives. For the purposes of dressing your game, every elk hunter should have a top-notch hunting knife. There are also specific knives that have been crafted for "unzipping" your game's belly and removing the meat.

A way to transport meat. After you are done cutting away the edible meat of your game with your hunting knives, you will need to carry everything back to your vehicle. Some transport approaches include a sled, game removal cart, ATV or even a bicycle.

A final note to keep in mind is that after you shoot an animal, you may need to track it. Elk will often keep running, even after being hit. This is just another talent to develop with this activity along with Gun and hunting knife skills.

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